Modesty's Costume Closet

Duct tape Dummy or a Duct tape mannequin is a quick way to create a replica of your body for all kinds of projects. From being a dress form to creating a pattern, Duct tape dummies (DTD) are incredibly useful for all kinds of costume projects.  However, if you are trying to make a full body DTD, you'll need assistance to make it. It may also destroy some of your clothing in some methods. And you may not feel comfortable making one as it is restrictive.  The primary reasons for making a DTD are to make patterns for clothes or armor. Because it is easy to translate the 3D form into a 2D pattern.  Puppet head covering pattern. Personally, for things like gloves or boot covers, I have no trouble making a DTD of an arm or a leg. But full body I need a different approach.  Method 1: Silhouette Tracing As a kid, I remember having a criminal outline done on banner paper of myself. It is still a viable approach although now I may need to tape pieces of banner paper side by side. You can kin

 May 29th 2013 was my recorded Day 0 for my first earnest attempt at cosplay with my hot pink Halo Spartan. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago! But that means I have been making costumes a bit more earnestly for at least 11 years.  OMG...baby face! I wasn't even 30 yet! Well I did make that Lady Galadriel cosplay back in 2011...so maybe more than 11 years.  This was for Halloween!  Still, I feel like I've made little to no improvement since then. 😂 Why is it that we never feel confident enough to call ourselves expert when we have so much experience? I think it's the level I expect from my teachers that I feel I just don't have. Costumes are my favorite and most prevalent hobby at the moment. Even though I rarely go to costume parties or conventions anymore. (I really need another person to go with me...I don't like going alone!)  And all my costumes and cosplay were created inside one-bedroom apartments. Although my current place does have a fair bit of

Over the past two weeks, I've worked on the male kimonos and got them put together.  The ensemble is not quite finished yet, I am working on hakama for both of them.  Color-wise they look similar, but you can tell they are different material. I've sewn the haori for the more matte red one.  With the haori As you can see, it's a very shiny haori. Needs a haori himo and some paint on it. But significant progress was made!  Kimono and Haori What Went Well I did my French seams correctly!  I figured out MY way of attaching the Okumi with French Seams These did not take long to make Pinking shears really help reduce fray They fit! What I learned Took me a bit to figure out how to put on sleeves since there no opening.  I did have to fudge some measurements because I was a little short on some of the fabric when I cut it and did not want to buy more.  The collars were still kind of a pain to put one but I'm getting better at stitch-in-the-ditch.  Blind hemming was not as clea

 Another week, another kimono constructed and I feel this is my best one yet!  Before putting on the collar and sleeves.  All put together Such a pretty pattern! I used a walking foot to make this one which meant I had to sew a bit slower, but that gave me nicer seams.  I will be going with serged seams or "hair line" seams, but I have not done that yet as of writing this post. For now, she's set aside so I can start working on the NEXT kimono which is my burgundy men's kimono. (I've already had some trouble with it. I really have to pay attention to right side wrong side when using fabric that has no obvious pattern.😅) So we're chugging along at a good pace with this project. Here's what's left:  Hem, attach collar and sleeves to burgundy kimono Construct the Red Men's Kimono Cut, mark and construct the Cotton Cat Kimono Sew the grey hakama Sew the red haori Sew the black lady's haori  Sew the black hakama Some of the extra little projects I

 The next kimono I made was Ruka Rengoku's pink spring Kimono. Making this a cosplay kimono. Currently, the kimono is unpainted. But I wanted to pause and admire the progress made since starting these kimono projects.  Things that went well:  All the major seams are French seams. I did it correctly this time!  The collar was a bit easier to do this time.  I put the chikara nuno in correctly this time. At least for one of them.  I was able to do a blind hem by machine!  It fits!  Some things I learned:  Matching thread color is important. Hot pink really shows up.  This polyester silk is a bit more slippery than I expected.  My Clover Seam Iron is hottest on the rod part and not the flat part. Burned a little hole! (I was able to hide in the hem.)  What still needs doing:  I want to paint the flower pattern onto the kimono. I'm trying to make stencils to help me with clean lines. But I'm having trouble with placement. It's really annoying that my only reference has been

 I bumped up the Polish blend kimono on my project schedule so I could have it done in time for the cultural festival at church. Then I realized the event was in May and not in March like I originally thought. Oh wells, better to get her done.  And while trying to get'er done, I started embroidering on my machine. My original plan was to embroider the patterns directly onto the fabric then sew it together.  That worked for the corner of the sleeves, but then I got to thinking, "perhaps it would be better to sew on some of the other designs after I put things together. After all, my hems tend to be a bit unpredictable in placement." After breaking 2 needles while embroidering the sleeves, I got to thinking again, "perhaps sewing on the finished garment is a bit risky. Going over a seam while embroidering will surely break a needle!" So maybe it would be better to sew on some of the designs as patches. A couple of the designs are very dense and would suit patches

 A couple days ago I finished constructing the Green Polish Embroidered Kimono. I still plan on making the haori for it but I have not gotten around to it yet. For now here's what I did: Embroidery  So technically this part isn't done according to plan, but I am done with it for now.  For the sleeve corners, I machine embroidered directly onto the fabric using a design I got on Etsy .  Then I designed and created my own embroidered designs to make patches.  Based on my cat.  Two horses Here is what went well:  The designs look good against the kimono. My photos don't do it justice.  The wash away mesh DID wash away.  Here's what could have gone better:  The cat patch had a bit of wonkiness after washing away the stabilizer. Nothing major. One of the sleeve corners got bunched while the machine embroidered so I had to pick out some stitches and it left some tiny holes.  Broke a few needles on the machine that scared the life out of me.  What I learned:  Embroidering onto